Power and transmission mechanism.



L, R. COMPTON.

POWER AND TRANSMISSION MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 1% 1912.

1 68,751. Patented Dec. 19, 1916 3 SHEETSSHEET I- L gwocnkoz L ew'aR.C0m fm z.

L. R. COMPTON.

POWER AND TRANSMISSION MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED DEC.17.I912.

1,208,751. Patented Dec.19,1916.

3 SHEETSSHEET 2. Fi 3 Q/VH'I Lcpaeo 5 mac n foz L. R. COMPTON.

POWER AND TRANSMISSION MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED 050.11. 1912.

1,QU8,751. Patented Dec. 19,1916.

3 SHEETSSHEET 3.

LEWIS R. COMPTON, OF EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY.

PQWER TRANSMISSION MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed December 17, 1912. Serial No. 737,215..

- New Jersey, have invented a certain new and useful Power andTransmission-Mechanism, of which the following 1s a speclfication.

TlllS invention is a power and '-transm1-ssion mechanism. embodyingseveralfeatures of novelty, among which may be mentioned a plurality ofenginesor' motors either of which is adapted to drive a plurality ofdriven members; a plurality of engines all of which, are adaptedto'drive a common driven member; mechanism whereby one or more of thesaid motors-may be caused to operateindependently of the others when thelatter. from any cause are out of service and without permittingthe idlemotor or motors to act as a drag upon the operating one or ones; andcontrolling mechanism, op erating selectively, for controlling theoperations of the engines or motors in the manner specified.

Heretofore it has been proposed to em-- ploy a pluralityof motors orengines conjointly, but so far as I am aware, they have been coupledtogether in such. manner that oneimbuld not be employed independently ofthe others without exerting a drag on the non-operating motors.Moreover, such mot'ors or engines were not so installed that one or morecould be cut out, leaving the balance to operate on all the drivenmembers, or upon a common driven member.

The invention is particularly adapted for use on aerocra-fts, althoughit will be apparent that it is capable of use in otherrela- I tions.When used on aeroplanes, it provides greatly increased lifting ower whenstarting a flight, a feature 0 vital importance 1n aerocrafts, and whenthe craft is in flight, one or more of the motors may be, and preferablyare, 'cut out of service owing to the lesser power required, thuseffecting economy in fuel consumed. Furthermore, in the. event of one ofthe motors or engines becoming "disabled during flight, the otherengine" or motors can be relied upon to propel and controlthe aerocraft,thereby reducing to a minimum the possibilities of accident.

Features of the invention, other than those specified, as well as thefunctions and advan-* tages thereof, will be apparent from thehereinafter detailed description taken in connection with theaccompanying drawlngs.

In the accompanying drawings, I have illustrated diflerent practicalembodiments of the invention,but the constructions shown therein are tobe understood as illustrative, only, and not as defining the limits ofthe invention.

Figure 1' is a plan view partly in horizontal section of the power andtransmission mechanism embodying this invention, the plane of thesection being indicated by the irregular dotted line 1-1 of Fig. 2. Fig.2 is a vertical sectional elevation on the plane of the dotted line 22of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrow. Fig. 3 is a detail viewof the controlling lever, the dotted lines illustrating one of thepositions into which said lever may be shifted. Fig. k is a sectionalelevation of the controlling mechanism for operating the clutch, theplane of the section being indicated .by the dotted line 4-4 of Figs. 1,2 and 3 looking in the direction of the arrow.' Fig. 5 is a plan viewillustrating another embodimenttion in the plane of the dotted line 8-8of Figs. 7 and 10 looking in the direction of the arrow. Fig. 9 is atransverse section in the plane of the dotted line 9-9 of Fig. 10. Fig.10 is a section at right angles to Fig. 9, and in the plane of thedotted line 1010 of Fig. 9. Fig. 11 is a plan of a part of the platformillustrating the slotted construc- Patented Dec. 119;, 119116.

tion thereof. Fig. 12 is a detail sectional view of a part of a clutchoperating rod emplo ed between the clutch lever and the contro linglever. g y

'A A designate a plurality of motors or engines the power of which iscommunicate a transmission mechanism either to a b p urality of drivenmembers B B, as in Figs. 1 and '2, or to a single driven member,

as C in Figs. 5 and 6. Manifestly, the motors or engines may be ofanytype, and the driven members B B or C may be of any form. For the sakeof convenience, howas the-propeller D. The single driven member C isshown, also, as a shaft mounted in bearings similar to bearings b, saidsingle.

driven member having a member to be driven such as the propeller C. Itwill be understood, however, that the invention is not "restricted,first, to the form of motor or engine, a plurality of which is used,sec-.

. end, to any particular kind of'driven memher, such asa shaft, or,third, to the combination With'either a single driven member or aplurality of driven members.

Proceedingnow to a detailed description of that embodiment of theinvention wherein a plurality of driven members are employed, asillustrated in Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, it will be noted that theengines A, A are positioned in close proximity to each other and so thatthe engine shafts a, a are parallel to each other, said engine shaftsbeing prolonged or extended for suitable distances beyond the enginecylinders, whereby the shafts a, a are supported in suitable bearings e,e.

.As shown in Fig. l, twoof the bearings e, eare preferably of the ballbearing type, and these bearings support tubular countershafts E, E, thelatter being loosely fitted upon the extended portions of the engineshafts a, a. The tubular countershafts are quite short as compared tothe length of the engine shafts, each tubular countershaft beingprovided with one gear of a train of transmission gears and with amember whereby the motion of the countershaft" is communicated to a.driven member. As shown, tubular countershafts E, E are provided attheir ends with sprocket wheels f, f

,with which engage sprocket chains F, F

adapted to run over sprocket wheels f f secured respectively to thedriven members B, B, said sprocket gears and chains constituting oneembodiment of means for communicating themotion of the tubularcountershafts E, E to the driven members or shafts B, B.

G, G designate the gears of a train or pair, said gears being carried bycountershafts E, E by attaching the gears rigidly to said shafts in anysuitable or preferred way, The gears are of such diameter that they meshdirectly together, see Figs. 1 and 2', and these' gears rotate idly withrespect to the engine shafts, although they are adapted chains forpropelling the driven members to drive the countershafts in a manner toimpart motion to the sprocket wheels and B, B from said countershafts.Each gear mission gears G, G is provided with a clutch face g,

the clutch member being in the form of a rim or flange with a conicalinner surface, as shown in Fig. 1. With said clutch members 9 of thegears G, G cooperate clutches H, H, the hubs h of which areconnectedslidably with the engine shafts 21, a, by splines or feathers 72.,whereby said clutches H, H are connected with the engine shafts torotate at all times therewith but these clutches are capable of movementon the engine shafts in the direction of the length thereof for thepurpose of Withdrawing the clutches from engagement with theiclutchmembers on the transmission gears G, G. Said clutches are moved normallyin a directiontoward the against shaft bearings e, e or collars i looseon the engine shafts, whereby the springs act to impel the clutchesnormally into engagement witlath clutch members of trans- It is apparentthat the transmission gears and the clutches are disposed in compactrelation to each other, that the clutches are impelled by their springsinto positions for engagement normally with the transmission gears, andthat the gears mesh directly together. The power of the separate enginesis communicated through the clutches to the independent gears, that isto say when one clutch is in engagement with its complemental gear thepower of that particular engine is transmitted from the shaft throughthe clutch to the gear, whereby the power of the engine is applied tooperate the driven members. Should the clutch, as H, of one engine, asA, be adjusted out of cooperative relation to its complemental gear, asG, and the clutch H of the other engine A be in engagement with itsproper gear G, then the first named gear G is free to rotate idly withrespect to the shaft of engine A and the clutch H, whereas the engine Awill drive clutch H and gear G so that gear G will be rotated from gearG, and thus the two countershafts E, E will operate the sprocket chainsfor imparting motion to driven members B, B simultaneously. It will benoted that the power of engine A which remains in operation is notcommunicated by gear G to the inactive engine A, for the reason thatclutch H is free from engagement with gear G. may be moved at will intoengagement with gear G, and thus both engines A, A will be separateObviously, clutch H i a controlling mechanism intended for man-v ualoperation and so related to the clutches that either may be moved intoengagement with its proper gear or both clutches may be simultaneouslymade fast with their re spective gears, said controlling mechanism beingillustrated more particularly in Figs. 3 and 4. The controllingmechanism embodies a single manually controlled member in the form of alever J, the same being mounted on a sliding androtating arbor 3',supported loosely in bearings y" of a frame J, the latter being securedfixedly in place at any suitable point within convenient reach ofanattendant. Said lever is provided with a head is, preferably of theball shape shown in Fig. 4:, and this head of the lever cooperates witha notch or notches is provided in each of two sliding blocks K, K.Connected to saidblocks, K. K are rods L, L, respectively, the otherends of which are pivotally connected by pins Z to shipping levers M, M,said shipping levers being suitably supported on a rod m attached to abracket m. The upperends of the shipping levers are forked as shown bydotted lines in Fig. 2, whereby the forked ends of the levers areloosely connected with .the hubs h of clutches I-I.

Suitable means are provided for retaining the controlling lever in itsadjusted position. As shown, 7

said lever is provided with a latch n provided to catch over one edge ofa locking plate or member N when the controlling .member is moved intoan adjusted position.

Obviously, the controlling lever may ,occupy the full line position ofFig. 3 and the head 76 thereof moved into engagement with the notch kofsliding block K, thus connecting the controlling lever through rod Land clutch lever M with clutch H for the purpose of moving the latteragainst the tension of the spring I, thereby disengaging clutch H fromear G, the lever being locked in position y latch n so as to precludethe spring I from forcing said clutch H into engagement with gear G.Under these conditions one engine, as A, im-

parts motion to both gears G, G and countersh'afts E, E to operatedriven members B, B simultaneously. To adjust the clutch H out ofengagement with gear G the operator moves lever J from the full lineposition of Fig. 3 to the dotted line position of the same figure, thusbringing the head of the lever into engagement with. block K andreleasing it from engagement with the block K, after which lever J maybe moved to the full line position of Fig. 4 so as to turn clutch leverM in a direction to withdraw clutch H from gear G, under whichcircumstances spring 1 acts on clutch H to move it into engagement withgear G so that en: gine A is out of service while engine A operates todrive both gears and both driven members. In addition to separatelycontrolling the clutches, lever J may be moved to a" positionintermediate the two positions shown in full and dotted linesrespectively in Fig. 3, thus bringing the head of the lever intoengagement with the notches of two sliding blocks, whereupon said levermay be moved to impart motion to the blocks simultaneously and thuslevers M, M will both be operated to withdraw clutches H, H fromengagement with gears G, G whereby both engines A, A will be releasedfrom operative engagement with the coun tershafts and the drivenmembers. i

In Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, the mechanism is illustrated as adapted foruse in driving the two propellers of an aerocraft, but it will bedistinctly understood that the invention is not limited to thisparicular art. As is well known, it is desirable to apply the greatestpower to an aerocraft at the beginning of flight, and when the craft issailing through the air the power required is, or may be, reduced inorder to eflect economy in the consumption of fuel. The power andtransmission mechanism of the present invention provides means foreXert' 'ing the maximum effect upon the propellers the propellers, butthe other engine will remain in service for the purpose ofsimultaneously driving the propeller without,

however, having to overcome the friction of the engine which is not inservice. Should any breakdown of the engine in service occur, then theaviator is enabled by operatin the lever J to' quickly disengage thedisa led engine from the propelling mechanism and to bring the otherengine into service, the control of the two engines being effected froma single operating lever.

In Figs. 5 and 6 of the drawings the transmission mechanism is arrangedto apply the power of the two engines to a single driven shaft C, thelatter having one propeller C. This shaft is positioned between andparallel to the engine shafts, and in lieu of the sprocket and chaingearing of Figs. 1 and 2, I employ a single spur gear 0. on shaft C,said spur gear 0 meshing directly with other spur gears c 0 providedonthe tubular shafts E E. These tubular .shafts carry clutch members G Gwith whichcooperate the clutch members H H on the engine shafts.

Figs. 7 to 12, both inclusive, illustrate a preferred form of theselective controllingfor which purpose said platform is shown in Figs.9,10 and 12 as having slots 19 p 19 12?, the slot 12 crossing the otherslots and connected therewith. Manifestly, lever O is free to slidesidewise on arbor 0 when said lever is positioned in theoross slot p,but the leveris movable forwardly into one or the other of the slots p pwhen the clutches are engaged and into slot p when the lever is manintermediate position, both engines being coupled for operationsimultaneously to exert their power upon the driven members.

As shown in Figs. 9 and 10, lever O is fulcrumed at its lower extremityby arbor p, but the upper end of said lever is furnished with a springhousing or casing 9 within which is contained a coiled spring 9', shownI in dotted lines in said Figs. 9 and 10. Through the casing passes theupper end portion of a rod Q, the upper extremity of which terminates ina push piece f. Said rod Qextends downwardly alongside of lever O, thelower part of said rod having a yoke r the legs of which,pass through aguide member r provided on the lever O. Secured rigidly to the yoke 1-is a shoe R, the latter being positioned below the guide 7", This shoeis movable relative to leverO and guide 1", the upward movement of theshoe being effected by the action of spring 9 on rod Q, but by pressingdownwardly upon the push piece 9 of this rod, shoe R is, adaptedto belowered into engagement with fixed members provided at the rear ends ofclutch operating rods S S said rods extending from controlling lever Oto the levers which operate the clutches.

Engines A A and the transmission mech:

anism associated therewith are of the type heretofore disclosed, that isto say, said engines have parallel shafts a a on which aresplined hubs kh of clutches H H the latter cooperating with clutch faces onintermeshing transmission gears G G which transmission gears are madefast with'tubular countershafts E E fitted respectively on the engineshafts a a so as to turn freely thereon. The hubs of the two clutchesare provided with annular grooves in which are loosely fitted rollers ton the upper forked ends of levers M M the latter being fulcrumed attheir lower ends. As shown, said levers are attached rigidlyto shorthorizontal rock shafts T T which are supported in bearings of suitablebrackets T the latter being in alinement with each other, as shown inFig. 8. Clutch levers M M are attached to the outer ends of these rockshafts and on the inner adjacent ends of these rock shafts areprovidedshort upstanding arms T T,

to the upper ends of which are pivotally connected the forward endportions of rods S S, respectively. The clutches H H are impellednormally toward the gears Gr Gr of the transmission by springs I whichare coiled loosely around the engine shafts and are seated against theshaft bearings 6 0 The countershafts E E are supported in suitablebearings of the framework, and these countershafts are provided inaddition to gears G G with sprocket wheels which are engaged by thesprocket chains f f, the latter being adapted for transmitting themotion to driven members, such as B B, in

Fig. 1. v

Each clutch operating rod S or S is shown in the form of a metal tube,the latter being provided at one end with a solid metal extension piece.9. The extension piece is shown in Fig. 10 as having'a lug s with whichis adapted to engage the shoe R when lever O and rod Q are operated. Inaddition to lug s at the rear of each rod the extension piece 8 isprovided with a shoulder at positioned forwardly of'lug 8, said shoulderdepending from the extension piece. On the extension'piece s is mounteda dog U,

the same being shown in the form of a pawl pivotally supported on theextension piece-s y a pin u. This pawl is normally acted upon y aspring 1) which depresses the ends of the pawl into locking engagementwith a bridge piece 'V, the latter being attached to theforwardmxtending portions of the posts 0 in which is mounted the arbor 0serving as the fulcrum for controlling lever O. The

rods S S are fitted slidably in bridge piece In Fig. 7 clutch H ispressed by spring I into engagement with gear G whereas clutch H is heldout of engagement with gear G by rod S and the pawl U on said rod Sengaging with the bridge bar V, the spring I being compressed, wherebyengine A operates to drive gear G and the latter gear imparts motion tothe comp nion gear G as a resultjof which the tw gears Gr G and thesprocket chains f f operate to impart motion to the driven members, suchas B B. Under these conditions engine A is out of service and engine Aoperates through the transmission mechanism to drive both drivenmembers.- Should it bespring I acts toim-pel clutch H into en-- gagementwith gear G and in order to throw engine A out of service thecontrolling lever O and rod Q are manipulated to move rod S in adirection to brin its awl U into fixed relation with bridge ar and atthe same time to operate arm T shaft T and lever'M in a direction towithdraw clutch H from gear G placing spring I of engine A undercompression. The clutch H is thus disengaged and clutch H engaged sothat the engine A will operate through clutch H to impart motion togears G G and the transmission mechanism to the driven members. Underthese conditions rod S is locked by its pawl U to hold clutch H in anidle position, the controlling lever 0 being thrown orwardly into slot32 When the controlling lever O is moved to a neutral position andoccupies slot 12 the shoe R is midway between the lugs s 'on rods S Sand between the two dogs U on said-rods S S. At this time the lever 0does not operate to impart movement to either of the rods S S, and,accordingly, the clutches H H are pressed by their springs intoengagement with gears Gr G so that both engines are effective in drivingthe transmission mechanism for imparting movement to the driven members.

The selective controlling mechanism herein described operates tell-taledevices by which the aviator or operator is enabled to determine theengine or engines in service. Platform P is provided at its forwardportion with slots w through'which extend pivoted tablets W W eachactuated bya crank arm w to which is connected a rod 02. The rods mdepend from the platform and are pivoted at their lower ends to bellcranks at,

one end of each 'bellcrank being normally in the path ofthe dependinglug u on the ex-,

tension piece 8 of rods S S. When one rod, as S, is pressed rearwardlyby spring I to throw clutch H into engagement with gear G the shoulderto of said rod. S engages with bellcrank 02 so as to-throw tell-tale Winto anex osed position, see Fig. 9, thus indicating t at engine A is inoperation. In a similar mannertell-tale W is brought into an exposedposition when rod Sispressed rearwardly by the spring which throwsclutch H into engagement with gear G to denote that engine A is inservice, and should both engines be brought into use then the twotell-tales W. Wwill be brought into exposed positions by the lugs onrods S S.

Having thus fully described the'invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. The combination of a plurality of engines, a plurality of paralleldriven shafts, transmission mechanism cooperating with the engines andthe driven shafts, a single lever, and controlling means operable bysaid single lever whereby one or all of said engines may be used fordriving said shafts.

2. The combination of a'plurality of engine shafts, a plurality ofparallel driven ,members, a train of gears certain of which are mounteddirectly on said engine shafts, said train of gears operating totransmit the power of one or all of said engine shafts simultaneously tosaid independent driven members, and means for rendering inactive one orall of said gears whereby either of said engines may be employed toimpart motion to the driven members without af- I fecting the inactiveengine orengines.

3. The combination of a plurality of engines, a plurality ofcountershafts, driven mechanism, means connecting said countershaftswith the driven mechanism, inter- .meshing gears loosely mounted on theshafts of said engines, separate clutch mechanisms whereby said gearsmay be applied to operate the counter hafts from said engine shafts, andmeans for operating the clutch mechanisms. r y

4. The combination of a plurality of engines, driven mechanism, aplurality of countershafts operatively connected with said drivenmechanism, gears mounted loosely on the shafts of said engines andmeshing with each other, and means controllable at will for making saidloose gears.

fast with the shafts of the engines, whereby both engines may impart-motion to the driven mechanism or either engine may be thrown out ofservice in such manner that the inactive engine will not be affected bythe engine remaining in service.

5. The combination-of a plurality of en- ,g'ines, driven mechanism, aplurality of countershafts operatively connected with the drivenmechanism, gears fast with said countershafts and meshing with eachother, saidgears being rotatable independently of the shafts of saidengines, a plurality of clutch mechanisms. each cooperating with oneengine shaft and one of said gears, and

means for operating said clutch mechanisms thrown out of service in amanner that it will remain unaffected by the bperation of the activeengine.

6. The combination of a plurality of engine shafts, driven mechanism, aplurality of tubular countershafts fitted loosely to said engine shafts,said countershafts being connected operatively with said drivenmechanism, intermeshing gears fast with said, countershafts, said gearshaving clutchsurfaces, clutches slidable on the engine shafts andpositioned in operative relation to the clutch surfaces of said gears,and controlling mechanism operating selectively for applying throughsaid gears and clutches the power of said engines collectivelyor-individually to said driven mechanism.

7. The combination of a plurality of driv-- ing shafts, transmissionmechanism normally free from said driving shafts, separate clutchmechanisms whereby either of said driving shafts may impart motion tosaid transmission mechanism, a plurality of clutch operating rods, meansfor locking the rods individually, and a single controlling leverwhereby the rods and their locking means may be operated to bring eitherof said clutch mechanisms into operative relation to the transmissionmechanism and the driving shafts.

8. The combination of'a. plurality of driving shafts, intermeshing gearsnormally free with respect to said shafts, separate clutches cooperatingWith the shafts and said gears, operating rods individually connectedwith said clutches, means for retaining each rod in a position to retainone clutch free from engagement with the companion gear, and acontrolling lever shiftable into positions for operating said rodsindividually.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

Witnesses:

H. I. BERNHARD, M. G. RODRIGUEZ.

LEWIS R. COMPTON.

